Sunday, May 12, 2013

You can hardly read the news or turn on the television today without hearing something about cybercrime, identity theft, or online bullying. The criminals and thugs of the real flesh and blood world are still around. It’s just that an equal or greater amount of them are now online and using that medium to steal, abuse, and torment. You will find a number of different types of computer crimes that happen all of the time today. In fact, you may know someone who has been a victim of one of the following crimes. Let’s look at some of these crimes that those with computer forensics training are trying to help stop.

Spam and Phishing

Some people might not even realize that spam can be a crime in many areas, but it can. These unsolicited mails can be a pain to deal with, but they also have an even darker side. While some companies are simply using them as a form of undesired marketing, others are using them to try to elicit a response from you, such as a password This type of spam is phishing, as they are trying to lure you into giving out sensitive info.

Sometimes, the emails that they send can actually look quite official. For example, they might look like an email from PayPal or Amazon, and they may try to tell you there is an issue with the account, or to “thank” you for a recent purchase that you know you did not make. Of course, they will have handy link that you can click to contact them for help. This link is not legitimate though, and if you provide information, it could come back to bite you later. It is always better to go to the actual site and then contact the company through their actual contact methods to see if they are a good option for you or not.

Fraud and Theft

Fraud is unfortunately common on the web as well, and it can take a number of different forms. Sometimes, a criminal might be getting into personal accounts to take money, use credit, and more. Theft of social security numbers happens as well, and that is going to lead to identity theft. This problem is plaguing a large number of people in the country today, and it can happen to anyone.

Computer Hijacking

With malware and other types of bad software and files, it can even be possible for a computer criminal to gain access to your computer. They could store info on the computer, load viruses onto it, go through your files, and more. It would be akin to having a nearly invisible thief in your home with you and stealing your food!

Stalking and Bullying

Another type of crime that shows no signs of slowing despite a growing awareness of it is bullying. This, along with stalking, is a serious problem. Most prominently, it affects the youth of the country in the case of bullying, but adults are to blame as well. In some cases, these issues can become so severe that they actually result in death. The issue of bullying is a serious problem that society needs to address more seriously.

Stalkers are a large problem on the web too. Because of how freely people give out information without thinking about it, stalkers have easy access to find out nearly everything about that they want to know. For example, using the check in features on social networks is about as good as calling up a stalker and telling him where you are going to be and when you will be there.